Platonic myths

Disciple of Socrates and founder of the Academy, Plato tries to explain his theory of ideas through four myths to point out the physical, moral and political world as reference in the world of ideas: the allegory of the cave, the myth of the winged chariot, the simile of the line and the simile of the sun. In the allegory of the cave, Plato tells how slaves trapped inside a cave observe a projection from the outside in shadows they think are real. One day one of them is released and finds that reality must be found by breaking the chains of the world of the senses through intelligence. The others try to kill him because they do not believe that the outside world of ideas is the reality. So Plato seeks to highlight the difference between having and not having education. With the myth of the winged chariot however, Plato wants to define how the human soul is. A charioteer driving a winged chariot with two horses, one white and one black. The charioteer represents the rational part, the white horse is the irascible part and the black horse is the appetitive part of the soul. The better the charioteer has observed and studied ideas, the best he can drive the chariot. In the simile of the line, Plato wants to show how the degrees of being correspond to knowledge, the first being imagination, followed by belief, thought and intelligence. The first studies the images of the sensible world, if it reaches the second degree it will study the things that come from those images. You can then enter the intelligible world studying material objects and reaching the fourth grade with the study of ideas. In the simile of the sun, Plato wants to explain the supreme idea of ​​good equating it with the sun. The sun is what causes knowledge and the existence of things, which is why good is the engine that allows us to achieve such knowledge and the existence of ideas.